Virus strands passengers on cruise ship
COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- A cruise ship carrying more than 200 people docked in a Norwegian harbor Wednesday and was ordered to keep everyone on board after a passenger from a previous trip tested positive for the coronavirus upon returning home to Denmark.
Bodoe Mayor Ida Pinneroed told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that the SeaDream 1's 85 crew members would all be tested for the virus and that authorities were in contact with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health on whether the 123 passengers should be as well.
"We take the situation very seriously," the mayor said.
The Norway-based company that owns the ship, SeaDream Yacht Club, said the former passenger had no symptoms of covid-19 during the earlier voyage and had traveled home from Tromsoe on Sunday. The person underwent a routine virus test upon arrival in Denmark, and it came back positive Tuesday.
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All the other passengers from the infected individual's trip must self-quarantine for 10 days, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health said.
Norwegian news agency NTB reported later Wednesday that the entire crew had tested negative. It was not immediately clear if the ship would remain under quarantine or would be permitted to let some or all onboard disembark.
Wind-fanned fires char French towns
PARIS -- Fires fueled by Mediterranean winds have raced across multiple towns in the Marseille region of France, leaving at least 22 people injured, destroying several businesses and forcing the evacuation of 2,700 tourists, nursing home residents and others.
Some 1,800 firefighters, backed by planes and helicopters, battled the worst fire through the night around the town of Martigues. They were still working Wednesday to extinguish it more than 14 hours after it started Tuesday, according to the local fire service.
Its flames spread quickly from a wooded area toward the sea, 5 miles away, sweeping through residential areas and multiple campgrounds. Firefighters rushed to evacuate campers via land and sea.
The cause of the fires is not known.
Eight civilians and 14 firefighters suffered minor injuries in the Martigues blaze and five others that started in the area Tuesday, the fire service said. The other fires were brought under control in the towns of Port-de-Bouc, Aubagne-Carnoux, Gignac-la-Nerthe and Fontvieille.
Video shows smoke in N. Korea city
SEOUL, South Korea -- A video obtained by The Associated Press shows plumes of black smoke rising from a North Korean city near the border with China amid reports that deadly explosions occurred there earlier this week.
There has been no official word from North Korea or China about what happened in the North Korean city of Hyesan on Monday. But South Korean media and outside monitoring groups reported that gas explosions in a residential area left dozens of people dead or injured. The AP couldn't independently confirm the reports.
The video acquired by AP shows flames and black smoke shooting into the sky from Hyesan as loud explosion-like sounds are heard. A few people can be seen watching the scene from the Chinese side of the border.
The video was provided by Wang Bo, a travel agent who said he shot it from a park in the Chinese border town of Changbai.
AP verified the location after examining other tourist videos of the park that show the same structures and lights. Other videos of the reported explosions have been circulating on Chinese and South Korean social media.
The Seoul-based Daily NK, which specializes in North Korea news, on Wednesday cited unidentified sources in North Korea as saying that the explosions left 15 people dead and the death toll could rise. It earlier reported gasoline stored at a house in Hyesan ignited and led to the explosion of a nearby liquid petroleum gas cylinder, and that caused chain explosions of gas cylinders attached to other houses.
Extremist says his shot killed politician
BERLIN -- A far-right German extremist on trial in the murder of a regional politician last year has acknowledged in court that he fired the fatal shot.
Stephan Ernst made the admission in a statement by his lawyer to the Frankfurt state court Wednesday, news agency dpa reported. Ernst went on trial in mid-June in the killing of Walter Luebcke, who led the regional administration in the Kassel area of central Germany.
Luebcke, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's party, was shot on his porch on June 1, 2019, and died later that night.
Ernst, 46, who has previous convictions for violent anti-migrant crimes, is accused of murder, attempted murder, serious bodily harm and firearms offenses. There are no formal pleas in the German legal system.
A second man, identified only as Markus H. because of privacy rules, is charged with being an accessory to murder and breaking firearms laws.
